Abstract:

This study of school bullying provides an overview of the development of
international anti-bullying initiatives, an in-depth analysis of the state of antibullying
approaches in New Zealand and a description of the impact of such
approaches on the behaviour in one secondary school community.
Its findings endorse the use of effective, school-based, anti-bullying
interventions, in particular, those developed in Scandinavia and Britain during
the last twenty years. The efforts to combat bullying in New Zealand are
reviewed. While some New Zealand programmes are found to be effective, the
anti-bullying initiatives of the Ministry of Education and the Education Review
Office are found wanting, as is their failure to respond effectively to the growing
public concern over bullying.
A number of anti-bullying interventions undertaken within one school
community are evaluated. While generally found to reduce bullying, the
limitations of these interventions became evident when one class group was
viewed in greater depth in a study which discovered an entrenched bullying
‘culture’ and provided insights into the bullying dynamic.
The communication difficulties experienced when a small number of powerful
individuals capture the dynamics of power and abuse, and in effect establish the
relationship style for the whole group, are then highlighted. As a result of the
understandings gained through this classroom-based study, a number of
conclusions are developed about the importance of the role played by leaders,
both teacher and pupil.